Actor James Franco, best known for playing Harry Osborn and his Goblin alter-ego in the "Spider-Man" movies, has become the first human cast in Rupert (The Escapist) Wyatt's Rise of the Apes, which is scheduled to start filming on July 5 for its planned June 24, 2011 release date.

Franco won't be donning any make-up or fur as he will in fact be playing a human, essentially a scientist who is pivotal in the war between the humans and the apes. We can probably expect a lot more casting announced in the next few weeks leading to the start of filming.

Earlier today, it was also revealed that Franco will star in Summit Entertainment's comedy Ricky Stanicky. Written by Jeff Bushell, the film centers on three male friends who have used an invented friend, Ricky Stanicky, for the past two decades as an excuse to explain their way out of sticky situations. When their spouses demand to meet Stanicky, they hire an actor to portray him.